sweet potatoes, best health foods

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/31/04 2:14:41 PM Eastern Standard Time,

michaelantonparker@... writes:

> As far as I know, the only

> difference between sweet potatoes and white potatoes is a nice hit of

> carotenes, which is not that big of a deal since you can get

> truckloads of carotenes from so many other foods.

____

~~~~~> They are also lower in starches and higher in sugars, which makes them

much easier to digest. Potatoes often give me digestive problems; sweet

potatoes never do.

_____

> I mean, I'd rank

> any kind of starchy root way way down on the list of health foods, in

> the " neutral for health " / " caloric filler without bad effects "

> category.

____

~~~~> It would depend on your lifestyle, but a lot of people have sufficient

need for calories that a " calorie-filler " that has no negative effects (unlike

nearly every calorie-filling food people typically eat on the SAD) would be

positive, rather than neutral for health.

______

> And dried fish? Wouldn't fresh fish be much better?

____

~~~~> I was wondering that too.

____

> Here's my view of the best health foods

____

~~~~>Why do you put bones and connective tissue in tier 1 rather than tier 2?

Shouldn't the tiers be organized so that someone eating from the first tier

only has a more nutritious diet than someone who also eats from the other

tiers? It seems that tier 1-only diets would be deficient in calcium.

Chris

[Guest guest]

@@@ Heidi:

> All of which is to say: that is a great writup! Maybe I'll start

> buying the stuff again, which will please my family immensely.

@@@

Yeah, but Heidi, my main point was that " buying " it probably means

buying junk and that it should only be eaten if you grow it yourself

or have a great source. Of course, you are someone who already grows

stuff...

@@@ Heidi:

> As near as I can tell from my readings, the best health foods are:

>

> Any kind of green leafy stuff

> Sweet potatoes

> Dried fish

> Berries

> Meat (incl. organs, fat, etc.).

@@@

You've got to be kidding! Sweet potatoes? As far as I know, the only

difference between sweet potatoes and white potatoes is a nice hit of

carotenes, which is not that big of a deal since you can get

truckloads of carotenes from so many other foods. I mean, I'd rank

any kind of starchy root way way down on the list of health foods, in

the " neutral for health " / " caloric filler without bad effects "

category.

And dried fish? Wouldn't fresh fish be much better?

Here's my view of the best health foods (I'd put sweet potatoes in

Tier 4 and dried fish in Tier 3). It's just a loose, informal

classification off the top of my head; I know there are some foods not

covered.

---------------------------------------------------------

Tier 1

organs

leaves

shellfish

sea veggies

eggs (fish, poultry)

Tier 2

muscle meats (land and water animals)

bones and connective tissues (land and water animals)

kefir-like fermented milk or fresh milk from ideal source

certain roots (typically " medicinal " types, e.g. ginger)

low-starch stems

flowers

wild berries

peppers and similar fruits

mushrooms

coconut

low-starch seeds (as spices, sprouts, etc)

foods from Tier 1 sufficiently compromised by negative processing

Tier 3

fat deposits (bone marrow, kidney fat, adipose fat, etc)

cheese

nuts

insects, grubs

honey

wild fruits

foods from higher tiers sufficiently compromised by negative processing

Tier 4

high-sugar fruits

high-starch roots

high-starch seeds (grains, legumes, etc)

high-starch stems

foods from higher tiers sufficiently compromised by negative processing

<<<crossing the line from good to bad foods>>>

Tier 5

certain isolated parts of foods sufficiently compromised by negative processing

foods from higher tiers sufficiently compromised by negative processing

-------------------------------------------------

Mike

SE Pennsylvania

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. --Alan Kay

[Guest guest]

At 02:52 PM 10/31/04 EST, you wrote:

>

>~~~~>Why do you put bones and connective tissue in tier 1 rather than tier

2?

> Shouldn't the tiers be organized so that someone eating from the first tier

>only has a more nutritious diet than someone who also eats from the other

>tiers? It seems that tier 1-only diets would be deficient in calcium.

>

>Chris

Is there a reason why marrow is so far down the list? (questioning

MarrowBoy)

MFJ

I wanna live! I wanna explore the Universe! And I wanna eat pie!

~Urgo

[Guest guest]

>Yeah, but Heidi, my main point was that " buying " it probably means

>buying junk and that it should only be eaten if you grow it yourself

>or have a great source. Of course, you are someone who already grows

>stuff...

Well, THAT is a good point. Iceberg lettuce is a pain to grow, IMO. It's

one of those that the bugs eat first (Kale is the last). And our local

farmer doesn't grow it either.

>@@@ Heidi:

>> As near as I can tell from my readings, the best health foods are:

>>

>> Any kind of green leafy stuff

>> Sweet potatoes

>> Dried fish

>> Berries

>> Meat (incl. organs, fat, etc.).

>@@@

>

>You've got to be kidding! Sweet potatoes? As far as I know, the only

>difference between sweet potatoes and white potatoes is a nice hit of

>carotenes, which is not that big of a deal since you can get

>truckloads of carotenes from so many other foods. I mean, I'd rank

>any kind of starchy root way way down on the list of health foods, in

>the " neutral for health " / " caloric filler without bad effects "

>category.

Hmmm ... well, this was off the cuff. The ordering had to do

with how much of it one eats as much as nutrient quantity.

You CAN live off just meat, but your kidneys have problems

if lean meat makes up too much of the diet, so the rest has

to be starch or fat (calorically).

Now for me, not wanting to gain weight, I go for green

leafy stuff first (salads, kimchi) in bulk. Then some sort

of starch (for me, usually potatoes). And as much meat

as I can hold (which isn't a huge quantity, it is filling).

Meat and fat provide a lot of good nutrients, but greens

and vegies provide most of the antioxidants and some

other good stuff. As for tubers ... all of them are far

higher in nutrients than the competing starches (grains)

and with far fewer antinutrients. Sweet potatoes are

considered one of the best tubers. Check it out:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice & dbid=64

A lot of healthy tribes use tubers as the base of their diet,

and humans have been eating them for a long time. I'm not

an " anti starch " person myself.

>And dried fish? Wouldn't fresh fish be much better?

In terms of nutrient density, small dried fish are full of stuff.

OK, and seaweed. But whole fish ... most people only eat the

meat, not the organs or bones. Whole baby fish, eaten

whole, would be better but how many people will eat them?

I did get some like that at the Korean store, they are good,

but I can't eat as many as I can dried fish. Fried dried anchovies

with nuts are a *bar snack* in Asia ... that is one nutrient

dense bar snack!

>Here's my view of the best health foods (I'd put sweet potatoes in

>Tier 4 and dried fish in Tier 3). It's just a loose, informal

>classification off the top of my head; I know there are some foods not

>covered.

---------------------------------------------------------

Tier 1

organs

leaves

shellfish

sea veggies

eggs (fish, poultry)

Tier 2

muscle meats (land and water animals)

bones and connective tissues (land and water animals)

kefir-like fermented milk or fresh milk from ideal source

certain roots (typically " medicinal " types, e.g. ginger)

low-starch stems

flowers

wild berries

peppers and similar fruits

mushrooms

coconut

low-starch seeds (as spices, sprouts, etc)

foods from Tier 1 sufficiently compromised by negative processing

Tier 3

fat deposits (bone marrow, kidney fat, adipose fat, etc)

cheese

nuts

insects, grubs

honey

wild fruits

foods from higher tiers sufficiently compromised by negative processing

Tier 4

high-sugar fruits

high-starch roots

high-starch seeds (grains, legumes, etc)

high-starch stems

foods from higher tiers sufficiently compromised by negative processing

<<<crossing the line from good to bad foods>>>

-----------------------------

OK, but doesn't that have sort of an anti-starch bias? Also,

while organ meats are higher in nutrients, eating too much

of them would make me feel ill (and might be an OD on something

like iron?). Insects and grubs are very nutrient dense, as

are nuts, why put them in Tier 3, below muscle meats?

Anyway, I fully admit that my list was based on what

I personally can actually stick in my diet fairly

easily and affordably. It would be an interesting

exercise to figure out some kind of " ideal " but it

would have to be a little more complex ... a lot of people

need some variety of foods combined together, like

your typical Korean meal: some starch (for those that

need it), some meat, some vegies, some greens. Eating just meat or

just vegies wouldn't suit me at all, and eating meat

without any starch wouldn't set well either.

So regardless of the ranking, I'd want each of the groups included

together in a meal.

Heidi Jean